The present invention relates generally to radiator mechanisms, and more particularly to a radiator mechanism that includes a cooling fan for dissipating heat derived from exoergic circuit components (or heat-producing components) mounted in an electronic apparatus. The present invention is suitable, for example, for a mounting method of the cooling fan for various types of circuit components mounted on a motherboard in a notebook personal computer (PC) or the like.
The motherboard (or main board) in the notebook PC is mounted with the circuit components such as a CPU socket, a variety of memory (sockets), a chipset, an expansion slot, and a BIOS ROM, and directly affects performance and functionality of the PC.
The notebook PCs in recent years tend to include increased number of exoergic components and to generate more calorific values from the various circuit components, as the circuit components mounted on the motherboard provide higher speed and higher performance. Therefore, in order to thermally protect the exoergic components and other circuit components mounted directly or via a socket or the like on the motherboard, the motherboard is provided with a cooler called heat sink.
The heat sink typically includes a cooling (or radiating) fin made up of many high-thermal-conductivity members, and cools exoergic components by spontaneous air cooling. However, the calorific values from exoergic components tend to become too high in recent years to be adjusted by the spontaneous air cooling. Therefore, a fan-cum-heat sink further including a cooling fan has been proposed to enhance a cooling effect of the heat sink. The fan-cum-heat sink provides forced-air cooling to the heat sink utilizing air currents produced by a fan. A conventional fan-cum-heat sink is typically provided above a CPU on the motherboard, as the calorific value from the CPU is the highest among other components.
The cooling fan may be classified into two types: a lateral type that orients perpendicular to one surface of the motherboard; and a longitudinal type that orients parallel with the surface of the motherboard. However, the lateral type is more suitable than the longitudinal type that requires substantial space allocation to a certain thickness for recent notebook PCs required to have a thin (or low-profile) body.
However, the exoergic components are mounted also on a reverse surface of the motherboard opposite to a surface on which the heat sink is mounted. In a conventional embodiment, the calorific values derived from these components are almost negligible, but increased speed and enhanced functionality in recent years have made these calorific values nonnegligible, and influences such as destruction, deterioration, and malfunction due to heat of the exoergic components and other circuit components, thermal deformation of the housing accommodating the motherboard, low temperature burn, and the like have been increasing accordingly. Therefore, the necessity has been arising for the motherboard to be cooled at the both sides (front and back surfaces) in recent years.
To remove the necessity, it would be a conceivable plan to provide cooling fans at the both sides, but this plan would entail increased manufacturing costs, increased power consumption for driving the cooling fans, and increased noise caused by driving the cooling fans.
In this respect, a radiator mechanism that cools both sides of a motherboard using one cooling fan is proposed as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application, Publication No. 6-13364. The radiator mechanism 10, as shown in FIG. 7, includes an outer frame 1, a cooling fan 2, fixing tonguelet pieces 3, a connector 4, a motherboard 5, and a connector 6. FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of the conventional radiator mechanism 10. The outer frame 1 is fixed in a through hole provided in the motherboard 5 via the fixing pieces 3 and screws (not shown) provided at both sides of the outer frame 1. As a result, the connectors 4 and 6 are electrically connected with each other, and the cooling fan 2 is electrically connected with the motherboard 5.
The cooling fan 2 shown in FIG. 7 has the outer frame 1 embedded in the motherboard 5, and thus may cool the both sides of the motherboard 5 at the same time. In addition, a shift of a mounting position of the fixing pieces 3 provided on the outer frame 1 in an up or down direction to an arbitrary spot would vary a mounting height of the outer frame 1 relative to the motherboard 5, so that a surface generating more calorific value may be effectively cooled.
However, the cooling fan 2 is the longitudinal type, and thus is not suitable for a low-profile notebook PC as described above. Accordingly, a radiator mechanism that can efficiently cool the both sides of the motherboard without preventing the notebook PC from achieving a slim body has been in increasing demand.
Therefore, it is an exemplified general object of the present invention to provide a novel and useful radiator mechanism and electronic apparatus having the radiator mechanism in which the above disadvantages are eliminated.
Another exemplified and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a radiator mechanism and electronic apparatus having the radiator mechanism that can prevent exoergic components and other electronic components from suffering destruction, deterioration, and malfunction due to heat, a housing accommodating these components from suffering thermal deformation and low-temperature burn, and the electronic apparatus including a printed board from achieving a slim body.
In order to achieve the above objects, a radiator mechanism as one exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a board on which an exoergic part is to be mounted, the board including a through hole, and a cooling fan that orients perpendicular to one surface of the board. The cooling fan can dissipate heat from the one surface, and the through hole allows the cooling fan to dissipate through the through hole heat from a back surface of the one surface. Since this radiator mechanism includes a lateral type cooling fan, a housing of an electronic apparatus that accommodates the printed board is not prevented from miniaturizing so much as in case a longitudinal type cooling fan is used. The cooling fan does not employ the through hole for dissipating heat at a surface on which the cooling fan is provided. The through hole has dimensions enough to allow the cooling fan to cool the back surface. As a result, heat at the back surface may easily be dissipated as well with a single cooling fan. The cooling fan is typically provided on the board, but may be provided at a side of the housing that accommodates the board.
The above radiator mechanism may further comprise a heat sink, and the above cooling fan may be provided in the heat sink. In this case, the fan-cum-heat sink may have an enhanced cooling capability, and is provided with the cooling fins and cooling fan in the same plane, which contributes to a slimmed body of the radiator mechanism. The above exoergic part is, for instance, a processor, the above board is, for instance, a motherboard, and the above cooling fan is, for instance, is provided at a side of the same surface of the motherboard on which the processor is provided. The processor conceptually includes a CPU. In this case, the radiator mechanism may utilize the cooling fan for CPU in the fan-cum-heat sink, which is conventionally provided, without an additional cooling fan, for the inventive radiator mechanism, so that the cooling fan may have expanded functionality.
The above radiator mechanism may further comprise a heat pipe, and the above cooling fan may be configured to dissipate heat conducted via the heat pipe. The above heat pipe and the above heat sink may be thermally connected. The heat pipe may be disposed between the one surface and the back surface of the one surface, via the through hole. In this case, the radiator mechanism allows the heat pipe, if joined with a specific heat-producing source (exoergic member), to cool the specific portion efficiently and intensively.
The above cooling fan may include an intake connected to the thorough hole. In this case, the cooling fan may dissipate heat at the back surface via the intake and the through hole. The intake may be pierced thorough the housing that accommodates the cooling fan.
An electronic apparatus as one exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a board that includes first and second surfaces, and a through hole pierced through the first and second surfaces; exoergic parts mounted on the first and second surfaces of the board; a cooling fan that orients perpendicular to the first surface and dissipates heat from the first surface, while dissipating heat from the second surface via the through hole; and a housing that accommodates the board and the cooling fan. This electronic apparatus has the above-described radiator mechanism, and thus may efficiently cool the both sides of the board while keeping a slimmed body of the housing. This electronic apparatus is suitably applicable to notebook PCs, word processors, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other portable electronic apparatuses (such as portable game machines, and varied types of drives).
The above electronic apparatus may further comprise a heat sink having many fins, the above cooling fan and the cooling fins may constitute a fan-cum-heat sink, and the cooling fan and the cooling fins may be disposed in the same plane. In this case, the fan-cum-heat sink may have an enhanced cooling capability, and is provided with the cooling fins and cooling fan in the same plane, which contributes to a slimmed body of the fan-cum-heat sink itself. One of the above exoergic part is, for instance, a processor, the above board is, for instance, a motherboard, and the above cooling fan is, for instance, is provided at a side of the same surface of the motherboard on which the processor is provided. The processor conceptually includes a CPU. In this case, if the above electronic apparatus is embodied as a notebook PC, a high-heat-dissipation-performance low-profile notebook PC may be provided. Further, the electronic apparatus may utilize the cooling fan for CPU in the fan-cum-heat sink, which is conventionally provided in a normal notebook PC, without an additional cooling fan, for the inventive electronic apparatus, so that the cooling fan may have expanded functionality.
The above electronic apparatus may further comprise a heat pipe, and the above cooling fan may be configured to conduct heat via the heat pipe. In this case, the electronic apparatus allows the heat pipe, if joined with a specific heat-producing source (exoergic member), to cool the specific portion efficiently and intensively.
The above cooling fan may include an intake connected to the through hole. In this case, the cooling fan may dissipate heat at the back surface via the intake and the through hole. The above intake may be pierced through a housing that accommodates the cooling fan.
Other objects and further features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following description of the embodiments with reference to accompanying drawings.